


A Whole New Dress Code

by lizfu



Category: Marvel Avengers Movies Universe, Ultimate Spider-Man (Cartoon)
Genre: Ficlet, Gen, High School, Humor, Out of Character, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-23
Updated: 2012-05-23
Packaged: 2017-11-05 21:53:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 581
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/411394
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lizfu/pseuds/lizfu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Phil Coulson transitions from S.H.I.E.L.D. agent to high school principal (and discovers cardigans along the way).</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Whole New Dress Code

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr fic. More a reaction to [this gif set](http://hawwkette.tumblr.com/post/20838132993) than actual fic. I should not write for things I have not watched yet D: 
> 
> I blame [jmtorres](http://archiveofourown.org/users/jmtorres/pseuds/jmtorres) for any and all Coulson fic I write.

At the start of school in August, Phil Coulson wore suits. “How can you stand it?” Madge, the office secretary asked. She shivered. “I’m sweating just looking at you.”

“He looks like a fed,” students whispered in the halls when they thought Principal Coulson couldn’t hear them.

“No way! A nerdy accountant, yeah. But a fed?”

The suit jacket was the first to go. Even with air conditioning (which only ran when school was in session - not a minute before, not a minute after; it wasn’t in the budget) and open windows, the jacket was impractical. Late city summers had a miserable heat that couldn’t be driven away entirely with a decades’ old central air system and a lazy breeze. 

The shirt sleeves were the next to go, though not entirely. Coulson tried to maintain an image of professionalism - white dress shirt, dark nondescript tie - but by the end of the day, his sleeves were rolled up to his elbows and the tie loosened. “You need to invest in some short sleeves,” the football coach joked one Friday in mid-September. The summer was lingering and the weathermen on TV were predicting an Indian Summer well into October. A layer of sweat clung to Coulson’s forearms, and he refrained from raising his arms higher than chest-level - he was fairly certain there were sweat stains.

Coulson left for the weekend seriously reconsidering his life choices. Technically, he was undercover, and as an undercover agent, he didn’t need to comply with S.H.I.E.L.D. dress code. However, to a select few students, he was still a representative of S.H.I.E.L.D. He wondered how or if he should broach the subject with Director Fury for his input (and blessing), but when he called, he found that Fury was away, handling another Stark incident (his stomach dropped), and wouldn’t be available in the foreseeable future. 

By Monday, his closet was full of several short sleeve dress shirts.

The summer lasted into October, just as the weathermen said it would. By mid-November, the weather had started to become brisk, the wind sharpened with the chill of oncoming winter. Coulson unpacked the long sleeve shirts first, but eyed the suit jackets warily. Three and a half months had been enough time for him to cultivate an image with his faculty and student body, and somehow, the jackets betrayed the man they had come to affectionately call “Phil” and “Mr. C.”

“I’m thinking of buying a cardigan,” he mentioned off hand to Natasha (who was there on business) and Clint (who had tagged along).

Clint nearly choked on his laughter, gasping for breath, his face an interesting shade of purple as he doubled over. Natasha bit the corner of her lips to keep from smiling. “You’ll look like Mr. Rogers,” she said, surprising Coulson with the reference. 

A few days later, he found a box waiting for him in his apartment. Inside were several cardigans, ranging from bland to hideous. Coulson eyed one in particular - covered with cats whose eyes stared soullessly at him no matter which angle he looked at it - with unease. Eventually, he took the box to his bedroom, hanging the cardigans in place of the jackets, which he would box, save for one or two when he needed to look more professional, more S.H.I.E.L.D. agent than high school principal. 

The next day, he came to school wearing the cat cardigan. It was perfect.


End file.
